Lost Galmagia Game Write Up session 1.1

Aethra Chatoyant [Magic-User 1 – apprentice of a famous master / elf-sister]; Ayleton the Cat [Familiar 1 – animal familiar / ship cat of unknown port]; Oland [Rogue 1 – Spy / personal keyword not yet defined]; Dungar [Dwarf 1 – Dwarf-raised / Treasure Hunter]; Brömm [Dwarf 1 – Dwarf-raised / Bonded Clockwork Guilds-dwarf]; Azric [Rogue 1 – Assassin / leatherworker]; Richard Stockworth [Hairfoot Halfling 1 – Satyr / Tavernkeeper & Cook]

It’s the week before the first day of spring in Amethyst Spire – once the first of the human refugee camps in the flight from the Giant’s Shadow, now a three-ward town above the snowline that looks much like a wild west boomtown in wood and tarp construction. The PCs are making their final plans for an insane venture – crossing back into the Giants Shadow to recover treasures lost under Galmagia – that they are the first people to contemplate in the 25 years since the giants flattened it. The bulk of our party are people gathered by Aethra to aid her personal goal of recovering the magic of her master's master, Sregor Viridian. To this end she has employed the services of Oland and Dungar, who is looking to recover knowledge from the lost cities ostensibly to repay the dwarves for their charity to the humans.

Brömm is a bonded Guildsdwarf who had argued long and hard to the remaining members of his guild to mount an expedition to the lost cities to recover the clockwork secrets under there. Ultimately the guild financed just his going, and he latched onto Aethra’s group for strength in numbers. Azric just joined the group, her motivation and background are undisclosed. Richard has been hanging out with the adventurers as they made their plans after hours at the Axe & Thistle, feeding them with whatever scraps are left from the kitchen. At the 11^th hour he invited himself along.

The group shared what rumors they had managed to acquire: everyone knows that the city was built into 8 wards (Acolyte, Ancestors, Mages, Moon, Nobles, Park , Swords, and Trade) radiating out from the canal, and it has undercity trade roads. There is apparently some life there as on clear nights the denizens of the Axe & Thistle can see lights moving around the southernmost canal-side of the ruins. Aethra had consulted an Ophidomancer to learn that dawn of the first day of Spring was the most auspicious day to begin. Richard added helpfully that groups – some nomads who live under the Giants Dictate, but mostly clans of Orcs & Ogres or tribes of Centaurs – sweep across the North Vale in summer and fall; sometimes you can see them camp in the city. Spring seems safest to avoid such encounters.

Oland rolled out the maps of Galmagia’s surface level and the overlay of the Custom’s House roads. Many thanks are given to the resourceful rogue as the group contemplates pathways, assuming they can get to the road network and it is still intact. Brömm and Dungar relate that cities of Lost Tarmalania hold many mechanism and clockworks that were either never known to the dwarvish guilds (to their chagrin) or were lost when the Giant’s Shadow fell. Treasures of design and ingenuity abound under there. Aethra expands on that: as a magic-user she knows the cities of Lost Tarmalania used bound spirits of air and water to drive their great machines. Unlike standard runes, these can be corrupted over time, becoming angry and violent. Be wary of clockworks unless you know exactly what powers it.

Azric and Oland both know that those condemned of crimes in Amethyst Spire are exiled and marked with runes that prevent their leaving the Giant’s Shadow. It is assumed their lives are short, but these are rogues, and the survivors’ memories may be long. Neither chooses to disclose this to the group. Likewise, Azric does not share her own search for cures to curses, and how that has brought her knowledge of the nobles ward: The noble houses were in the far west of the city, and they had extensive under-levels full of family heirlooms, and The Galmagian noble family was… unstable from inbreeding and constantly laid curses laid on one another; neither they, nor their treasures, ever left the city.

The bulk of their rumor-gathering has been on the northwest corner’s Mage’s Ward. Its ground was turned to indestructible glass - the Amber - by Sregor Viridian and is covered with eroded debris that is not yet soil. The mage’s tall towers collapsed and leaned into each other, making helpful shelters for pilgrims and travelers.

Much to Aethra’s displeasure Richard is able to relate how he overheard another wizard, Annetha O’TheLastDays (aka ‘Apocalypse Ann’) discuss how she had heard that the Amber stretches down into the undercity and can only be breached by arcane magic. Maybe Ann was wrong. Or maybe the answer will present itself. But Aethra knows that Sregor’s workshop was there and holds spells and magic items likely unknown to any other wizard. And if no one else has breached the Amber then it should all be waiting for them….

Lost Galmagia Week 8: Under the Moon Ward

The surviving piece of architecture directly under the Moon Ward is the vault of the great cathedral. That has been taken over by Brother Blade and his cult, and they have already liberated some of the treasures of the cathedral – before they riled up a lot of disquiet dead that they now don’t dare go into the crypts to deal with. When it stood the cathedral appeared as a caduceus, and the lower passages that made up the serpents still exist, and have special properties. If the PCs ever excavate all of the entrances they can do an approximation of the Naeddre (the walk through the snakes) and earn a +1 to their Divine Favor stat (offer only open on the first days trips through). 

2.20 The final, or first, challenge:
This is the entry from M26, but once the block is cleared and the PCs can enter, they find circular stairs leading down to a round room with a 6” high lip at partially blocking the passage out. That well holds 5 Spitting Cobras which will only bite if attacked, but will spit at people entering. The pilgrims should be wearing blindfolds (or casting Snake Charm). These snakes reappear on each new moon, but you only get XP for outwitting them once. 

2.21 a & b: The Wet Wings
Both of these spaces were library/recordkeeping/artifact keeping for the cathedral. The artifacts have been stolen by the Brotherhood, and water damage from leaks above left the books as sludge. Other than the stairs down to the tombs these rooms hold but bitter disappointment.

2.22: The Abbess Sitting Room
This tastefully appointed space did not have its water wards fail and avoided the damage in the wings: the furniture, carpets, tapestries and inset hardwood paneling and floor are intact. Brother Blade lives here now, but he’s not present, the first time the PCs enter, as he is disposing of the inert naga he stripped from the true caduceus. The Abbess’ secret study can be found under the carpet under the hardwood, doubly concealed and secret. 

2.23: The Great Vault
This long hall is now home to unruly members of Brother Blade’s cult; there are always 12 present (1d12 acolytes, the remainder berserkers), while the rest are out Under the Giant’s Shadow or lower in the dungeon. The room is crossed repeatedly by raised mosaic trails that are part of the Naeddre – those walking them are invisible to the room, and cannot see the room – that the brotherhood ignores… but can never bring themselves to defile. Amongst their stuff is a sack with 1000 sp (the cash the acolytes have collected to purchase things from Turnip Hill, the settlement to the north and of Amethyst Spire where they have cultivated a reputation as harmless eccentrics), and a fist sized dodecahedron with runes on each surface which is the stone of controlling earth elementals Lily HazelsDottor from 1.15 is looking for. 

2.24: Entry to the Crypts:
This space once held the public entry to the crypts, but the Giant’s attack shattered the pillars holding up this section of the vaults, so there’s a 5’ lip around the outside of the room and an open space to below. The entire room reeks of ordure, because the cultists have been reliving themselves over the lip. Down below are 20 skeletons of the disquiet dead type who dead type who desperately want to get up here and kill the intruders; they can be seen scrambling through the rubble, and there’s a 1 in 10 chance each time the players are here that this is the time they figure out how to make a bridge of themselves from the highest shattered pillar to get up to this level. 

2.25: Snakes at the Midway:
This is halfway through the Naeddre, and therefore there are two snakes here identical to the ones in 2.20; there should be 5, but the Brotherhood killed 3, and has hidden another bag of 2000 sp. here. 

2.26: The Door of the Moon:
A concealed door in 2.23 leads to this maintenance room (full of cleaning supplies), but at its end is a secret door identifiable by a hemisphere of colored stone near the ceiling; if it is rotated to the current moon phase and depressed the door will open to the secret passage leading to 1.17b. The lock is repeated on the other side. The door closes and rock spins after 1 turn unless SERIOUSLY blocked. 

Lost Galmagia: Clerical spells and reversals 3rd-4th level

Third Level Cleric Spells

Continual Light  (as Magic-User)
4th level Reversals: Continual Darkness

Detect ‘Evil’ (as Magic-user)
4th level Reversals: Alignment Ward

Find Traps (as Magic-User)
4th level Reversals: Rune Trap

Speak with Animals: This spell allows a cleric to talk to any normal or giant form of animal life that is represented in the human mythology. At the moment this is snakes (wisdom and protection from evil) and lizards (psychopomps), but the pantheon is vast and essentially players can talk to anything if they come up with what the animal represents in the mythology. It will not affect intelligent animal races or fantastic creatures. The animal may be talked into doing a favor for the cleric, if the monster's reaction so indicates. The favor requested must be understood by the animal and it must be possible for the creature to do.
4th level Reversal: Invisibility to Animals: The reverse of this spell makes one type of natural animal ignore the caster (and one ally per level) for the spells duration. They won’t attack, track, or alert others to the cleric’s presence. The caster does have to select the animal type, as per Speak with Animals

The reasoning behind all of this is that it’s always kinda bugged me in a world logic sense that there are identical spells in the two classes’ spell lists approached from two totally different directions. Hence the splitting of clerical magic into erudition based magic that hews very closely to Magic-user, and faith based magic (more on that next week) that operates on entirely different principles.

Does this mean that the party cleric can share spells with the party magic user if the spell is on both lists? Yes, it does. I’m already making things a little difficult for the magic user in their need to track down spells, no reason to over-complicate.

If all goes to plan, the Under the Giants Shadow: Lost Galmagia campaign starts tomorrow!

Lost Galmagia: Clerical spells and reversals, zero and first level

 A cleric’s formal education has let them learn the formal nature of spellcasting used by magic-users. Clerics learn these spells out of the necessity of their field, and lack the breadth and rigor (as well as world changing spells) of magic-users, focusing more on divination and defense. Many of these spells are on the magic-user spell list and are interchangeable. The others draw power directly from divine intermediaries and require the Faith power to function, even if they are not, strictly speaking, acts of faith – that drawing of power from divinities places them outside the magic-user spell list.   

The Cleric keeps a spelbook just as a magic-user does, staring play with 3 zero level and 2 first level spells. Their maximum number of spells per level is based on their erudition. Unlike magic-users, clerics share their spells through their church, and a Cleric can pick one new spell per level attained, without the need to find them in the wild or pay usurious spell trading fees.

0 level Cleric Spells

Abey Curse This spell places any curse into abeyance for 24 hours, giving the victim time free of the debilitating enchantment. It can’t remove the curse entirely.
1st Level Reverse: Enhance Curse: If someone is already under the effects of a Curse, this spell makes it worse! There isn’t a save vs. this effect. For one turn, the effects of the curse are increased by half (so a -4 to hit becomes a -6).

Abey Poison: This spell places any poison harming a living being into abeyance for 24 hours, given them time to get to a Place of Safety where they might be cured. Cast if the target has failed all other saving throws against the poison, it keeps the target up and active, with no change to their hit points or abilities, until the spell ends. If the target is not yet cured, the poison starts effecting them again.
1st Level Reverse: Venom of Undead and Demon Abjuration: Snakes are divine animals inside the human pantheon, bringers of wisdom and defense against the unnatural. This spell turns a vial of water into a magic toxin that acts as a Turn attack on the undead or summoned creatures at the Caster’s level of ability.

Detect Magic (as Magic-user)
1st Level Reverse: Magic Aura

Purify Food and Water
1st Level Reverse: Befoul Food You can render the same volume of food inconsumable to humans and demi-humans and more attractive to carrion eaters and vermin.

First Level Cleric Spells

Light (as Magic-user)
2nd level Reverse: Darkness

Protection from Evil (as Magic-user)
2nd level Reverse: Summon Evil

Resist Cold
2nd Level Reverse: Resist Fire

Snake Charm Snakes are divine animals inside the human pantheon, being the guardians of wisdom and defense against demons. Aggressive snakes will not attack for 2-5 turns, If cast on passive snakes, the snakes remain charmed for 2-5 turns, and the cleric can use this opportunity to perform Ophiomancy in the dungeon, entering the rumor collection phase; this takes 1 turn to start and then 1 rumor per turn in the time remaining the spell. 

2nd level Reverse: Snake Abjuration: If there are snakes present, the caster can call on them to provide the equivalent of a protection from evil 10’ radius spell for the duration of the spell; the snakes will form a magical barrier between the caster (and their allies) and Evil threats.

Lost Galmagia: Under the Mage's Ward

The Mage’s ward is the most mysterious of the wards, given that the magical amber in which Sregor Viridian bound the place can only be bypassed with a Knock spell. The PCs have learned via rumors that the amber needs a touch of arcane magic to open, but not specifically what. Turns out this is the space in the dungeon that most interests at least a couple of the players, and that makes getting in an intriguing challenge (there’s a knock spell in the spellbook of T’tam the Bird, back in 1.29, but casting it before a M-U hits 3^rd level and can copy it into their book means losing the spell. Challenges, challenges. This space is just the barest part of what’s under the Mage’s Ward – if the players do get regular access to a Knock spell they’ll be able to enter others from above (or below from the 3^rd level), but Sregor’s is the only one that is still connected to the custom’s house road.

2.13: Bindings
Entry to this room from the Customs House Road has a portcullis that unlocks from the tower side from an obvious lever. Attempts to toss something around the lever are hindered by a bound Unseen Servant, which will interfere with basic attempts to pull the lever via ropes, etc. Inside the room proper is a table bearing thread, large sheets of paper, and other bookbinding equipment; bookshelves that contain 5,000 cp in blank books, and a large, halfling-sized hourglass that takes 8 hours to run. If the hourglass is tipped over it summons and Unseen Servant which, if not given other instruction will start putting together a book with the materials in the room; it can make one book every 8 hours if not interrupted.

2.14: globes, blades, and blood.

Approaching from the west the portcullis is twisted and easily navigable due to ceiling damage, and the door has fallen into the room. The room is covered in a layer of dust and debris, but the ceiling held up due to the very strong cross beams; this was the victim of the Giant’s first strike before Stregor put up the amber. Dangling from those crossbeams are 6 globes that appear to be mud and earth construction but are actually magical globes holding 6 stirges each in suspended animation, but the globes would have to be VERY carefully cleaned to learn that. Hanging on the walls of this room are ‘blanks’ for 8 elfcraft swords – bronze blades that have not yet had runes carved on them – that can still be sold for 50gp each if you can find an elf who wants to buy and finish them. Attempting to remove the swords without first looking for traps will mean missing the thin cables under the mud that connect the swords to the globes; take any sword and the globes fall, one by one. 6 of the Stirges will attack the PCs as they flutter around in a mad rush, but the bulk of them will take off through the portcullis and plague the dungeon for years. Players can, if they ask, make saves vs. Traps to catch the globes (11 STR minimum) to stop any one from falling.

2.15: Alchemy Lab
This room contains an alchemy lab that holds 3 crates worth of glasswear (200 gp each; and the crates are broken down and re-assemble-able) set up in brewing potions. There are two completed potions in the glasswork (which contains dozens of partially evaporated, cooked down, or clogged components) but unless great care is taken by a magic-user to extricate them the glasswear will collapse and release a toxic plume. Everyone has 1 round to exit the room or save vs. Poison or die. The toxins take 1 hour to settle to the ground. Also in the room are a half dozen lead or cedar boxes holding among them 300 gp of gold, silver, mercury, and platinum. The herbs and other reagents have dried up or evaporated.

2.16: Pixietown
This room is full of terra cotta pots that are either full of plants on the ground or stacked, suspended, or shelved sideys on shelves made from animal horns lashed together with vines from the plants. In theory there’s 300 gp of fine terra cotta and 44 gp of animal horns in this mess. The mess is home to a band of 5 pixies, who are invisible the moment the PCs enter. They are highly capricious (ok, they can be murderous brats) but react well to being spoken to in faespeak. If violence breaks out they will flee (these pixies can ‘blink’ which lets them get back to the surface past the wards), but if any are dropped to 0 HP they are sore wounded but salvageable, and will try to ransom themselves with the 1000 sp hidden about the room.

2.17: The Sitting Room
This space has a central stair that runs up to the amber boundary, and down to the 2^nd level. It is apportioned as a sitting room with three comfortable chairs, a humidor, a wooden carry case holding art supplies, and a coatrack against the west wall containing a finely made oilskin slicker and an equally finely made heavy fur coat. The humidor, if checked, contains several well past expired cigars and other tobacco products, along with a pouch containing a single large black sapphire of 1000 gp value. It is also the key to the portals that make up half the doors of this room – the archway of each of the portal doors as a notch in it the size of the sapphire. If inserted, the door acts as a portal. If not inserted, it opens on a bare wall. Door d actually has two notches, one on the left and one overhead. The one on the left leads to a tiny rocky ocean island, overhead to a snowy mountain cliff; both spots have stone sitting benches at them.

2.18: Triangle/Circle/Square
This circular room has a protective triangle cut into the stone, and a summoning circle cut into that (the first etched in platinum, the second silver). Inside circle is a summoned gelatinous cube, bound these last 25 years. Insude the cube are two ambiguous gemstones (created by the undigestible things that the bound cube kept schlorking in) that are worth 50 gp as curiosities, a spear, and a suit of chain mail. Both the items are of +1 enchantment. Of the PCs enter the circle, or break it by laying anything across it, the cube will have free reign in the protective triangle. The players can reach things over the circle and might find a way to fish things out of the cube, or kill it without risking reprisal.

2.19: Oceanside Guest Bedroom
This circular bedroom exists somewhere out west. The room is well furnished and comfortable, with a dresser, table, chairs, and a bed whose linens desperately need turning, and a magical chamber pot underneath it that teleports away anything left in it a moment after it is put down (100gp value). The skylight is the main attraction to the room, as it shows the sky over the ocean coast and if the center pane is opened (there is a 10’ pole in the room for that purpose) it lets in sea breezes. The window can be opened sufficiently for a halfling to get through into an ocean rainforest. Once the PCs have been in the room for a few minutes another pane of the skylight opens in and lets in the illusion of a parrot-headed winged monkey that screeches at them, flaps around avoiding blows, speaks magical curses, and definitely forces a morale check on any retainers. It can’t actually harm them and goes away for this visit if they say “I’m a guest of Sregor” or something similar. The runes for this are etched around the skylight.